Euthyphro, By Socrates: What Is Pious?

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Everyday people make choices, whether they are good or bad. These choices are usually known as good or bad, already. What makes them good or bad? Are they good because morally we think they are, or is it something more? In the words of Socrates, “Is it pious being loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is being loved by the gods? (10a)” From reading Euthyphro, I found that there is not a clear answer, but rather it is more of an opinionated answer. To come up with an answer, one must really dive into their thoughts, and reason out why they think a certain way, just like Socrates did with Euthyphro. While I read, I could not help but think that not all gods agree on everything, and not all religions do, either. How are we to know which is right? For example, people are strictly forbidden to get tattoos in Islam, but in Hinduism they are allowed. How would we know which the gods loves? If we agreed that all gods loved the same things, like Euthyphro and Socrates do, we still have a problem on whether or not we agree or disagree with what the gods love or hate. The use of Euthyphro and my own thinking made me decide that the pious is pious for no other reason than it being …show more content…

A question that breaks off from that is, “Is the pious being loved by the gods because it is pious, or is it pious because it is being loved by the gods (10a)?” Without reading Euthyphro, understanding this question would be nearly impossible. I think that the answer requires a lot of thinking. Piety is pious simply because it is a pious thing, not because it is loved. If you take gods out of the scenario, piety is based on societal beliefs, pious actions are done to please ourselves, and we already have the knowledge to make pious things. Socrates was not found guilty of being impious, but he was found guilty for not believing the same way his society did, showing that piety is linked with society, not the

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